The Multilingual Reality

<p>This book is a multidisciplinary analysis of the meaning and dynamics of multilingualism from the perspectives of multilingual societies and language communities in the margins who are trapped in a vicious circle of disadvantage. It analyses the social psychological and sociolinguistic processes of linguistic dominance and hierarchical relationships among languages discrimination marginalisation and assertive maintenance in multilingualism characterised by a Double Divide and shows the relationship between educational neglect of languages capability deprivation and poverty and loss of linguistic diversity. Its comparative analysis of language-in-education policies and practices and applications of multilingual education (MLE) in diverse contexts shows some promises and challenges in the education of indigenous/tribal/minority children. This book will be of interest to students researchers educators and practitioners in sociolinguistics educational linguistics psycholinguistics multilingualism and bilingual/multilingual education.</p>